Empire State of Mind (I WISH!)

Evening all! So it looks like J1 season is approaching and two of my friends are brave enough to go and tackle NYC for two months. They left last Saturday and I will miss them so much but I'm so excited for them. One of them is my absolute best friend and this will be the first summer in ten years that we've spent apart (tear) but I know she's going to have so much fun. I have her on fashion patrol while she's over there and have made it clear that she must approach any celeb and ask for a piccy with them whilst holding up a sign saying "I love Shannon". It's the small things ;) Their venture has inspired me to do a quick survival guide for living in New York with the help from one of the city's current residents, Dee Keaveney. Dee moved over there a couple of months ago to pursue her dance career and she looks as if she's living the American dream!

Survival advice from Dee:

What I brought with me... sewing kit, adaptors, tea bags, memory stick, envelopes, razor blades, contact lenses, waaaaaay too many pairs of high heels.
Food... It's SO DIFFERENT!! Even the brands we have at home like Cadburys don't taste the same. Supermarket food is not great, too much sugar in most things and so processed... Having said that, farmers markets and fruit and veg stalls have amazing fresh produce that is really cheap so that's where I do most of my food shopping, Eating out is amazing if you can afford it and the amount of amazing bakery's and cafes and candy stores... The Americans got something right when they invented peanut butter because it tastes amazing with everything. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, peanut butter ice cream, cookies, cheesecake... So many hot dog stands and dollar pizza parlours... so hard to resist! 

Clothes wise, I brought two suitcases of clothes and shoes over, including a huge amount of dance stuff. Right now I'm wearing all summer gear because it's really warm and humid. I mostly wear leggings, skirts and tops and cardigans because they're easy to wear for the studio. If I'm going out then I like to get glam in dresses, shorts and heels. I had my friend bring me over loads of socks from Penneys recently. Who wants to go to H&M and pay $7 for 2 pairs?!

The shops are basically the same, high street wise. Massive Forever 21's, H&Ms, Zara, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, and then all the amazing flagship designer stores on 5th Avenue and in Chelsea, we're talking McQueen, BCBGMaxazria, Banana Republic, Diane Von Furstenburg, Chanel, Prada, Fendi, Gucci... and shit loads of tourist shops!

Entertainment, there's always a million things happening but most of the time I prefer to chill because I'm so wrecked from dancing. Going out can be pretty expensive in my experience. Drinks aren't cheap UNLESS you hit a bar early for Happy Hour and then most things are half price. But clubs can be tricky, You just need to know where to go and knowing the promo reps is always a help! Movies are scary expensive, $18.50 for a ticket to Gatsby in 3D. Broadway is dear too much to my dismay, if I had the money, I'd be at a different show every week. There's a great comedy scene here although I haven't been to any gigs yet. In the summer there does be loads of free shows in the parks, like Shakespeare in Central Park or early live performances for Good Morning America in Times Square, where I was actually part of a performance.  The tourist spots are always hopping but too much for me, I'll get around to them one day. Places like Rockefeller Centre, Madame Tussauds, Ripleys Auditorium... What I have done was walk the Brooklyn Bridge, AMAZING, got the free Staten Island ferry past the statue of Liberty, went to the free day at Museum of Modern Art, went to a Yankees baseball game and I volunteer with Dancers Responding to AIDS and get to see free dance shows. 

So there it is. The NYC life. I wish Dee all the best of luck on her adventure and can't wait to see her perform in a huge production. This chick is talented so watch out! To hear more from Dee, visit her blog at http://blingonthesolesofhershoes.wordpress.com/. Thanks again to  Dee for writing a piece for this post!!

Much Love and Luck, 

Shannon.

xoxo

The Greatest Gatsby

Have any of you guys gone to see the Great Gatsby yet? Well I did on Friday night with my mammy. To begin, the cast were AMAZING! Absolutely flawless acting and each actor carried their character brilliantly!

Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher and Joel Edgerton.

The story mainly focused on the relationship between Gatsby (DiCaprio), Nick (Maguire) and Daisy (Mulligan). It was clear that the role of Nick was a key factor in the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. But of course, you can't have a tragic love story without severe complications and consequences. That's all I'll say for now on the story itself as I do not want to spoil it for you who have not seen it yet.

The costumes were absolutely outstanding. I would have loved to be apart of the design team. You can see that each costume has been perfectly crafted to fit the character and mimic their personalities. The detail on each costume is impeccable and you can tell that it must have taken a huge amount of time, effort and patience. My congratulations to the design team. You guys did an amazing job! My utmost favourite costume was the dress Daisy wore when we are first introduced to her. It is so flawless, beautiful and ladylike. If I had a dress like that, I'd never take it off. I also loved the array  of suits that were worn by Gatsby. They were so cool and he carried each of them so graciously. He really was a true gentleman.

So for all of you who have yet to see it, GO!!!! It;s such an enjoyable movie and the production of it is very well done. When you see it, let me know what you think ;)

Much Love, 

Shannon.

xoxo

How to dress appropriately for an Interview: River island

So as you know, I was working in RI over the Christmas period as a temp but before I got the job, I had to attend a recruitment event in the store. Basically it was an interview with three stages. It's hard to know what to wear when going for a specific retail shop because you want to show that you shop there but at the same time, you don' want to look overly eager. The second you walk into the interview room, you're immediately judged on your ensemble and how much or how little makeup your wearing. I know it sounds silly but it's appearance is very important in retail.

They want to hire someone that customers will be able to look at and immediately identify that they are an employee in River island. I know it sounds shallow but it's how it is. So if any of you have an interview with River Island, dress as if you were going to work on the ladies floor in the actual shop. they also love it if you're on trend. Also, DO NOT go over board on the eye makeup. It's a day time shop not a night club. They want people working there, not pandas. At most, only go as far as the flick above the eyelashes (cats eye look) when it comes to eyeliner and stay neutral with eye shadow. You don't want to scare anyone off.

When I went for the interview I wore a black flared skater skirt (RI), black 3/4 length sleeve top (A|Wear), over sized camouflage jacket (RI), long gold cross chain necklace (Penneys), Gok Wan cats eyes glasses (Specsavers), plain black tights and studded biker boots (RI). I was showing that I had an interest in the clothing in River Island but wasn't completely over enthusiastic. They tend to be weirded out by that?

So there it is. How you dress really can determine your chances on getting hired, especially in a high end fashion retail shop such as River Island.

What I Wore

Much Love,

Shannon.

xoxo

Evening everyone! Well, college is over and The job hunt is still on. I know I've been terrible for blogging lately but now that I have loads of time on my hands, I'm really going to get into it. You've all been so good and I never thought that I'd even get this far. My blog has nearly reached 3000 views and I only need a couple of more likes to reach 200 on my blog facebook page. Even if its just one new like a week, it makes a huge difference. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE like and share my page. It will only take 5 seconds and each like makes the door of possibilities open even wider for me. More people will see it and maybe they'll be brave enough to ask me to work with them. Since receiving all the incredible support, I styled my first photo shoot with an incredible team. So please, the 5 seconds that it will take you to share this page will make a huge difference to my life. We all have a dream. This one happens to be mine

 

Summer Sale Wishlist: Topshop

The Topshop sale has always been my favourite (to look at and fantasize over anyways). They are known for their incredible style and quality of clothing. I would be over the moon if I was even able to afford just one of these pieces. Has anyone managed to go on a successful summer sale shopping spree yet? Let me know what you bought ;)

Much Love,

Shannon

.xoxo

Summer Sale Wishlist: A|Wear

I don't go into A|Wear that much but whenever I do, I always pick up something amazing in their sale. As a rule, I don't particularly like their stuff but they seem to always pull some really cool stuff out during the sale. I picked up a lace and neon green skater dress on Monday for only €15! I can't really pull off neon colours by themselves so the lace over the neon green made it a perfect balance. I also love the blazers on sale at the moment. All their stuff is really good quality and durable so it's worth a look. Tomorrow: Topshop Summer Wishlist.

What I bought :)

Much Love,

Shannon.

xoxo

Summer Sale Wishlist: New Look

So I was in New look yesterday and was browsing around all their sale racks. There were so many!! But I still couldn't afford any of it because I'm....well....BROKE. But there were some lovely things that were suitable for the Irish summers that we suffer from annually. So for all you New Look lovers, here are some things that I saw yesterday that I wish were sitting in my wardrobe now :'( Tomorrow: AWear Summer Wishlist.

Much Love, 

Shannon.

xoxo